Bringing A Child Opens A New Dimension For Tourists

I knew my 4-year-old son was enjoying England when he started calling his mother ``mum`` and asking where he could find the ``loo`` instead of the lavatory.

Taking Aaron to Europe was an experiment, and one that succeeded because we followed a few simple rules.

Most important, we did lots of things that a 4-year-old would enjoy, forgoing many of the traditional pursuits of American tourists in England. Since Frances and I had been to England before, we could pass up the crown jewels and the changing of the guard. Instead, we went to places like the Tring Museum, where Lord Rothchild amassed a huge collection of stuffed animals.

We tried to find places Aaron could play and meet other children. We went to parks, playgrounds and carnivals. When we shopped, we often went to Milton Keynes, a neighboring town where the shopping center has a huge playground and day-care workers to watch the children while parents shop.

And we didn`t expect too much from Aaron. Knowing a 4-year-old wouldn`t enjoy theater or fancy restaurants, we avoided them.

AN ADDED DIMENSION

That doesn`t mean we didn`t have fun in England. Frances and I agree we enjoyed Europe more than we ever did. Bringing a child opens a new dimension for a tourist, bridging the gap between the visitor and native.

The English, seeing we had a child, talked to us, offered us pointers and were always friendly. Because we went to places that largely catered to children, we hardly ever saw other tourists.

All this was made easier because we exchanged houses, affording us the luxury of being able to live like an English family in Leighton Buzzard, a suburb of London.

We had a car, also part of the swap, allowing us to go where we wanted at any time. We also were on one of the main railroad lines to London, which was 50 minutes away by trains that ran every half hour.

The house had four bedrooms, so we could stretch out. Aaron could be put to bed at a reasonable hour in his own room. Frances and I have been on trips where we stayed in the same hotel room with Aaron, and the home setup was much more restful for us.

Frances and I had a kitchen, so we could prepare meals ourselves or get take-out dinners from one of many fish and chip or Oriental restaurants in town. Aaron doesn`t appreciate fancy French food or good restaurants anyway. He did get a taste for Indian dishes from a take-out restaurant in Leighton Buzzard; and now back in Florida, he keeps asking his mother to make Tandoori chicken.

Best of all, the neighbors allowed Aaron to play with their children so he wasn`t stuck with our company all the time.

KID`S VIEW OF ENGLAND

But we didn`t spend all that money just to stay in the house in Leighton Buzzard. The three of us ended up seeing a great deal of England, sightseeing every day. As long as we kept in mind that we had a 4-year-old with us, everything was fine.

Children love to do things with their hands. The English have a wonderful way of making cathedrals, which would normally be stuffy for the younger set, a fun place for children. In many of the larger cathedrals there are brass rubbing concessions. Kids, or adults, can make their own rubbings from reproductions of brass fixtures in the cathedrals.

Children love to watch things that move. So, when we went to the British Museum, we visited the watch and clock room. Aaron stared spellbound at the ancient clocks with their miniature works, ticking away. When we went to the Tate Gallery in London, we asked if they had any kinetic sculpture and were sent to a room where a hammer endlessly pounded an anvil, which Aaron studied from every angle. By allowing Aaron an opportunity to view things that interested him, he stayed quiet when we looked at more conventional museum fare.

Children love airplanes, cars and trains. So we always took the train into London, a treat for a Florida kid who seldom rides the rails. He loved the double-decker buses and would be satisfied if we spent a day riding around on them. He was thrilled by a trip to the Imperial War Museum air base at Duxford, near Cambridge, where the British have assembled a huge collection of airplanes, some of which you can walk through, like the Concorde supersonic transport.

Children love animals. Fortunately, Frances and I like animals, too. In addition to the fascinating Tring Museum, which is in a charming English village seldom visited by tourists, we went to Whipsnade Zoo and Woburn Abbey Safari Park, on the grounds of a huge mansion. Aaron`s most popular feature at the Safari Park were the monkeys, who hopped on our car and looked in at him through the windows.

Aaron also loved the traditional sights, such as Warwick Castle, where he got to dance and pose for photos with singers dressed as revelers from the Middle Ages. He said this real castle, complete with dark, winding stairways and a scary dungeon, was ``even neater`` than Castle Greyskull, the fictional home of He-Man on the popular cartoon show.